FNS Documents & Resources

This fact sheet outlines a number of additional resources for those seeking to directly purchase or raise food products for school nutrition programs.

"Food Safety Frequently Asked Questions: The Food Safety Modernization Act and its Impact on Farm to School Activities": This document includes common questions related to food safety when purchasing locally grown and raised food products directly from producers as well as food safety considerations for edible campus gardens.

This pre-recorded webinar features USDA Farm to School Program staff, who summarize grantee reporting requirements and review the processes for submitting no-cost extensions, as well as project and budget amendments.

This resource is designed to help Child and Adult Care Food Program operators provide garden-based nutrition education for children ages 3 through 5 years in family child care settings.

Why is streamlining a big deal? Because reducing paperwork increases program efficiency, to make CACFP work better! Whether you are wondering how to make the best use of resources to implement the new meal requirements, or just looking for ideas to help you operate the program more effectively, here is information you can use!

School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and the real world circumstances of America’s schools. 

Attached for your use is a prototype Performance Work Statement, Evaluation Criteria and Performance Metrics document to assist state agencies that wish to procure a contract(s) to perform the performance-based reimbursement certification and other training activities to support the Certification of Compliance With Meal Requirements for the National School Lunch Program Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Interim Rule and the new meal pattern final rule.

The  practices addressed in this document will help program operators enhance the safety of fruits and  vegetables grown in school gardens.
 

Recently, we have received several questions regarding the operation of a school garden. Attached are questions and answers to address this issue. As in the past, please share this information with your school food authorities.